Comparison of the Websites

Nowadays, a quality website is the recipe for success of the company because then it gets at the top in the search engine. Reaching the top can be possible only with a resource that, by different criteria, is the most attractive for search engine robots and ordinary users. Therefore, the best quality resources or those that have achieved a certain advantage over other projects get at the top. In order to create the quality website, one should analyze it. The analysis helps to understand the current errors on the site and make a correct check-list for the optimization. In this regard, this work reviews two websites, Amazon and Chanel, with the high traffic in order to analyze them and offer what should be changed and what other websites may adopt. Thus, the paper compares and analyzes the usability, navigation, topicality, content, design, target audience, and download time of both websites to make a quality evaluation of what a key to successful web development is.

Usability

Both websites, Chanel and Amazon, are well-constructed. However, the usability of Chanel is worthier than that of the Amazon. The menus of both sites are well-formed. The active menu option is highlighted when moving the cursor over it, which helps to orient the user where they are.

However, the Amazon’s menu is much better. It has a mega menu that opens almost on the entire page, and the precise cursor movement is not necessary. This function is simple, effective, and convenient. Besides, there is a filtration of the categories, which is absent on chanel.com.

Nevertheless, the website of Chanel has breadcrumbs, while the Amazon does not have them.

Both sites have the social buttons near each item.

On the chanel.com, there is no search single and common for all sites; some menu options do have the search, such as “make-up”, and some do not, such as “fashion”. In contrast, amazon.com has a big field with the search that is located at the top near the logotype. Besides, the button search is highlighted in orange.

Both websites are adapted for mobile phones that is very handy for the users The pages entirely take the area of the screen, and the size of pictures and words is convenient for watching and reading.

Finally, amazon.com is made for easy selling and buying with the all necessary buttons for it, and the chanel.com is more a showroom that is focused on advertising the product. That is why the usability of amazon.com is considerably better.

Navigation

The navigation on the amazon.com is also better than on chanel.com. The range of product categories is implemented in the form of a drop-down menu that is located on the visible place, which offers all visitors to easily navigate the sections. No matter what page or section the users attend, they can always move to the interesting category. Besides, other subcategories  can be seen at the top of the screen.

All needed information can be reached in no more than three clicks.

In contrast, on the chanel.com it is hard to turn back to the starting page using the menu. However, the navigation is convenient and the necessary information can also be reached in three clicks. The navigation, as well as the usability, is customizable for the design and the purpose: the main purpose of the Amazon is to make customers quickly find the product, while the Chanel tends to make customers enjoy surfing their website.

Topicality

The topicality of both websites is on a high level. Everything there is designed to make Google easier determine what the pages are about. The key words on both sites can be seen in their URLs that helps Google to rank those pages and bring them at the top. For example, one can find the keywords for Chanel “shoes”, “fall-winter”, and “collection” in its URL.

Amazon uses the same function so that the words “cell phone”, “accessorize” appear in its URL.

Additionally, the key words also appear in the Title Tags for both sites, as in the example with Chanel.

However, there is a minimum of the text on the pages of the chanel.com, and the products are named with special names as “flap bag with top handle” (few people will search for such item; the majority will search for a handbag). For this reason, it is not possible to say that the keywords are present in the text. In contrast, the products on amazon.com have a big description, and the items are named so as the customers enter in the search engines, such as “Apple iPhone 6s 64 GB International Warranty Unlocked Cellphone – Retail Packaging (Rose Gold)”. In this regard, Amazon has a better topicality. However, on chanel.com, there are more words of unique content that increase the topicality of the website.

Content

The content of both websites is very different. The content of the chanel.com is mainly graphic, and there are many videos. When attending the homepage of the website, the visitor sees the video with a loud sound. Each section of the menu has images, and every new click is followed by the new image, some of which may take up an entire page.

The images can also move with the moving of the cursor. There is also not much text. All content is unique, meets the subject of the site, and is dedicated to fashion, clothes, shoes, accessorize, and cosmetics.

In contrast, the website of Amazon also has a lot of graphical content, but there are very few videos and there is a lot of text. Additionally, on the amazon.com, there are advertisements and the feedbacks of the customers. There is a lot of content of the pages, unlike on the chanle.com. As on the chanel.com, the content of the amazon.com is unique and meets the subject of the site – shopping.

Design

The design of the Chanel’s and Amazon’s websites is also completely different. The website of Chanel is designed in the style of minimalism. Nowadays, it is a very popular and fashionable style of websites. There is not much information, few and only necessary buttons, no advertising, and the content is designed in calm colors – white, black, and gray. Everything is very stylish and makes the visitors fasten their view on the picture.

In contrast, the website of Amazon is designed in the maximalist way, where one can find almost everything: from the images and text to reviews and advertising, which sometimes may seem too much. However, everything useful is highlighted, the site is colorful, and there is a lot of orange color on the pages presenting the logo.

Thus, the amazon.com is not so stylish as the chanel.com because it is designed for convenient buying and selling and not for enjoying the design.

Target Audience

The target audience of both websites is also very different. Even not knowing the Chanel brand, only one glance at its website is enough to understand what its target audience is. The target audience of Chanel is a small layer of higher social class that values its brand and tries to emphasize its image and the belonging to a certain social class. They are trendy, stylish and self-confident people who dress elegantly and with good taste paying a great attention to even the smallest details of their outlook. All this confirms the temperate, smart, and minimal style of the website.

In contrast, Amazon does not have a specific target audience; it is diversified under each category. In general, it is mainly oriented on buyers who know what they are looking for no matter their social class. In this regard, the website is oriented on making the search of its audience more convenient and quicker. The website is constructed in such way to communicate with its audience. It usually publishes details about the manufacturer and the image where one can often come across slang words, as in the example below.

Download Time

The download time of chanel.com is not very high and leaves much to be desired. However, on the PC the download time is faster than on the mobile phone. The speed depends on the design. There is a lot of Java Script that detains the download time. The site also does not use the cache browsers, which adversely affects the traffic because, due to caching, users, who repeatedly visit the site, spend less time on loading pages.

The download time of amazon.com is also not very high. However, the download time on the mobile phone is higher than that of chanel.com. There are also a lot of images that should be optimized in size in order to increase the download time.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are more differences than similarities between the websites of Chanel and Amazon. Both websites have a good usability. They both have social buttons, highlighting menu options, and are well-adapted for mobile phones. However, Amazon’s usability is considerably better. It has a drop-down menu, filtration, and search. In contrast, chanel.com has breadcrumbs. The navigation is also better on the Amazon as it is designed for search. However, on both sites, everything can be reached in three clicks. Topicality is also better on amazon.com due to the presence of the text that has the keywords. However, both sites have keywords in URLs and in Title Tags, though chanel.com also has words of unique content. The content of both sites is different: chanel.com has more graphical content, and it is about fashion, and the amazon.com has more text. The design of chanel.com is minimalistic, while the Amazon’s is more maximalist, which is explained by the specifics of both sites and target audiences that are simple buyers for Amazon and elegant high social class for Chanel. The download time of both sites is low. Thus, the chanel.com and amazon.com are both well-constructed websites with their own specificity.